Gossip Roundup: Back in the Classroom

• Heard on the Hill: Sen. Bill Frist’s middle son Jonathan has a Facebook profile, complete with “hunky photos” and strange group affiliations… Oxygen is recruiting for a reality show called “Capitol Hill Girls”… Jack Abramoff listed Rep. Bob Ney’s golf handicap, but the congressman doesn’t even play. [Roll Call]
• Washington Whispers: Laura Bush’s press secretary was “American Idol” Taylor Hicks’s ninth-grade teacher, so they’re trying to arrange a White House visit… Margaret Spellings is learning Arabic. [USN&WR]

READ MORE: Personalities, american idol, arabic, bill first, bob ney, capitol hill girls, facebook, golf, jack abramoff, jonathan frist, laura bush, margaret spellings, oxygen, reality tv, taylor hicks

Daily Briefing: Hey, Big Spender

• Senate passes $109B in emergency spending by vote of 77 to 21; bill is rifled with earmarks that Bush threatened to veto. [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• House approves $7.4B for port security by vote of 421 to 2. [WP]
• Rumsfeld confronted by harsh criticism from audience members. Asked a former CIA analyst, “Why did you lie to get us into a war that caused these kind of casualties and was not necessary?” [AP]
• Administration increases rhetorical push for “democratic reform in Russia”; Cheney’s comments could “reflect a growing impatience with Russia’s unwillingness to back stronger measures, including sanctions, against the Iranians.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• Republicans “are struggling to marry a newfound zeal for energy conservation with their traditional loyalty to big cars and Big Oil.” [NYT]
• The proposed $100 gas rebate “offers a window on how Washington sometimes works in a slapdash way” and shows how Sen. Frist “has stumbled at the pinnacle of Senate power.” Sen. Thune: “I never was in favor of that. We all got out there and tried to put our best face on it.” [NYT]

READ MORE: CIA, Democrats, Republicans, big oil, bill first, dick cheney, donald rumsfeld, earmarks, emergency spending bill, gas prices, george w. bush, homeland security, house, iran, john thune, port security, russia, senate, war on terror

Even Laying and Collecting Excises Begins to Bore Them

America, your lawmakers are bored.

By Tuesday morning cooler heads prevailed, and the number of votes was pared back to three. By that time, though, all of the scheduled hearings had been canceled, leaving a lot of miffed and sheepish senators.

“I look around,” Mr. Lott said, “and think, ‘Am I the only one who thinks this is stupid?’ “

Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, said, “It’s sort of arrogant of us, isn’t it, scheduling them and then not keeping our appointments?”

“This job sucks,” said Missouri lawmaker Jim Talent. “I bet the Executive Branch has way more fun,” he added, before making a motion to adjourn to their rooms, slam the doors, and listen to music really loud.

The motion was ignored by Senator Frist, however, who said, “Dude! Did you know we get to ‘define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas’?”

Senate Scrubs Hearings As Politics Trump Policy In an Election Year [NYT]

READ MORE: arrogance, bill first, ennui, jim talent, piracy, sam brownback, senate, trent lott

Daily Briefing: ‘A Stick in McCain’s Eye’

• Pentagon commits $300m to “psychological warfare operation” that “includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source”; bumper stickers and t-shirts are also being considered. [USAT, USAT]
• Army approves new, classified rules for interrogation. Official: “This is a stick in McCain’s eye. It goes right up to the edge. He’s not going to be comfortable with this.” [NYT]
• Pentagon is reportedly monitoring the activities of “peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups.” [NBC, Reuters]
• Administration is debating the need for new nuclear warheads; “the U.S. could someday spend billions of dollars replacing much of the current arsenal.” [WSJ]
• Democrats press for subpoenas of White House officials regarding government response to Katrina. [WP]
• Texas prosecutors are investigating possible ties between Rep. Tom DeLay and lobbyist Brent Wilkes, who was linked to former Rep. Randy Cunningham. [NYT]
• House nears passage of tough border security bill. [NYT]
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce splits with Republican leadership over immigration bill. [WP]

READ MORE: Democrats, Pentagon, Republicans, SCOTUS, White House, alternative minimum tax, anti-war movement, arlen specter, army, bill first, brent wilkes, byron dorgan, christians, environmentalists, george w. bush, iraq, jack abramoff, john mccain, katrina, medicare, nation-building, nuclear arsenal, propaganda, randy cunningham, samuel alito, tom delay

Daily Briefing: Cracking Open the Door to Freedom

• Senators, by vote of 79 to 19, pass a resolution marking next year as “a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty… thereby creating the conditions for the phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq.” Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.): “Staying the course will not do.” Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.): “It’s a continuation of the oversight we’ve been conducting for years in the United States Senate.” WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT]
• Senators from both parties “are demanding that the administration show that it has a strategy to turn the conflict over to the Iraqis and eventually bring U.S. troops home.” [WP]
• Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) defends critics of the war: “[T]he Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them… to not question your government is unpatriotic.” [WP]
• Oil executives did meet with Cheney’s energy task force in 2001. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.): “The White House went to great lengths to keep these meetings secret, and now oil executives may be lying to Congress about their role in the Cheney task force.” [WP]
• Alito tries to downplay conservative remarks from 1985. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Rice reaches deal on access to the Gaza Strip. [WP, NYT, NYT, USAT]
• Lewis Libby plans to “seek testimony from journalists beyond those cited in the indictment and will probably challenge government agreements limiting their grand jury testimony.” [NYT]

READ MORE: Democrats, Republicans, SCOTUS, abortion, ben bernanke, big oil, bill first, china, chuck hagel, condoleezza rice, david safavian, dick cheney, energy task force, george w. bush, harry reid, iraq, israel, leak investigation, lewis libby, palestine, samuel alito, senate, taxes